Researchers at the University of Alberta have found that remdesivir, the drug originally meant for Ebola, is highly effective at suppressing a key enzyme associated with the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
The researchers said remdesivir, which is developed by Gilead Sciences, could stop the replication mechanism of the novel coronavirus.
The paper, published Monday in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, follows a study published in February that demonstrated how remdesivir worked against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a condition associated with another strain of coronavirus.
Prof. Matthias Götte of the University of Alberta said, “We were optimistic that we would see the same results against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We obtained almost identical results as we reported previously with MERS, so we see that remdesivir is a very potent inhibitor for coronavirus polymerases.”
The new paper demonstrates how remdesivir, which was developed in 2014 to fight Ebola, works in detail.
Prof. Götte explained that the virus’ polymerase is responsible for synthesizing the genome of the virus. He said, “If you target the polymerase, the virus cannot spread, so it’s a very logical target for treatment.”
The lab work shows how the drug suppresses a key enzyme associated with the coronavirus by mimicking its building blocks.
“These coronavirus polymerases are sloppy and they get fooled, so the inhibitor gets incorporated many times and the virus can no longer replicate,” Prof. Götte explained.
He said the lab results mean that remdesivir could work as a “direct-acting antiviral” drug against COVID-19, a.k.a. SARS-CoV-2.
Prof. Götte, however, cautioned that the lab findings could not be used to predict how remdesivir will work in humans. “We’ve got to be patient and wait for the results of the randomized clinical trials,” he said.
“In that sense, we were prepared because my lab specializes in viral polymerases,” Prof. Götte added.
He is quite optimistic that researchers will come up with one or more effective COVID-19 treatment, as there is an unprecedented amount of research going on across the globe.
“We are desperate, but we still have to keep the bar high for anything that we put into clinical trials,” he said, adding that we can expect results from human trials in April or May.
Prof. Götte said it is disappointing to see antiviral drugs discovered at the time of the SARS outbreak in 2002-03 were never translated into widely available drugs because of the huge amount involved in developing new drugs.
“This time around it’s obvious that we have to cross the finish line,” Prof. Götte said. “Ten billion dollars, it seems a lot, a huge amount. But in the context of this pandemic and the costs associated with this pandemic, it’s nothing.”
